"Ouch! Hey! Do you have to pull it that hard?" Mei blared out in annoyance.
"With beauty comes pain, Mei. Plus, I figured that you'd be used to this since you always doll yourself up with your interviews." Sydney said as she put more hair clips on Mei's hair.
"Well, this is different. With interviews, I just put on a pretty face, do the interview, then crash into bed and wash all the makeup down the drain. But this feels a little… TIGHT!" Sydney tugged harder on Mei's back.
"Stop slouching! Don't tell me you're gonna be like this on your date with…"
"DATE?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN DATE?! WE'RE ONLY CELEBRATING MY STORY GETTING THE OK! OK?!" Mei started waving her hands in the air as steam came out of her ears and a beet-red face.
"Alright, alright, if you say so. But you have got to lose the awkwardness with him. I've seen you during some of your interviews, you know."
Sydney sat down on a stool and took out her nail polish kit.
"Most of the time I'd feel sorry for anyone who'd catch your eye. The way you press them for answers with that straight face of a demon you have sends chills down their spine for sure."
Sydney moved up to Mei's fingers to apply more of the silver polish.
"But with Isaac, you seem like a completely different person."
"What do you mean? I'm like that with you and Ikki aren't I?"
"I'm not talking about our buddy-buddy times when we pick on Rikki." Sydney sighed.
"Listen, I know you like him and he probably likes you too. So what if the both of you just went out already."
"It's not that simple, Syd. I still have a few things I wanna figure out about myself. The stuff with my parents, what I wanna do after college, and he has his problems to deal with as well." Mei pouted.
"Tell me again, within the past few weeks, who was always there when you had problems?"
"You?"
"Only me?"
"Oh, Ikki was there too."
"And who else?"
"..."
"Come on, say it."
"Okay, fine. He HAS been there for me most of the time. But part of me is contemplating whether things are going too fast. Or if I only feel like this because I'm holding on to the feelings I had as a kid."
"Wow, I have never heard you talk like that before."
"What's with that face?! This is why I don't have other people do this for me!"
Sydney snickled as Mei's pout intensified.
~~~
The sounds of birds chirping from outside his room came as a shock to him. He never once opened the windows within this room, let alone allow the slightest bit of noise to take him away from his focus. But as Isaac wiped the sweat from his forehead with his left arm, he couldn't help but smile as he stared at the painting he'd been working on all night.
"Right. Got to get this to the university."
He then noticed a peculiar stench coming from somewhere in the room. A brief moment of sniffing around led him to believe that a shower would be the best solution. He let the painting dry as he cleaned himself up.
Isaac covered the painting with a large white sheet and used a thin rope to secure it. He tied it to his back and proceeded to the door. As he turned the knob and pushed, he was surprised by the man standing right outside.
"Professor Ozwell? What brings you here so early in the morning?"
"Oh, I apologize for intruding so early in the morning. But I had things to attend to over at the venue and would be unable to see you submit your final work. So I thought of coming here and seeing it for myself before I left."
"Really? Well, I was about to head to campus and submit my work."
"Fantastic! My car's in the parking lot, how about I give you a ride?"
Isaac felt uneasy, he always did when left alone with Professor Ozwell. Yet he felt tired from staying up all night and the thought of a free ride and more allowance for lunch wasn't such a bad idea. They headed down, Isaac placed the canvas in the back of the car and sat in the passenger seat.
Traffic was heavy that morning. A 10-minute drive seemed like it would take an hour. Isaac began to regret his decision as he grew more uncomfortable with the professor. There was no reason for it. His presence just seemed threatening and mischievous to Isaac.
"Aren't you gonna ask what the painting's about?" Isaac asked, to break the silence. The quiet atmosphere seemed worse to him,
"I know better than to question an artist's motivation with their work. In case you've forgotten, I was also an aspiring artist growing up."
"So you trust whatever I'll put up on the stage?"
"I trust that it is a product of all your work so far. However, your work so far has been unsatisfactory to me and many of the members of the department."
"This isn't like the department at all. Some time ago you were all pushing me to deliver works on par with the greatest and now it's blind faith?"
"That's just how it is."
"But why?"
Isaac leaned forward. The car was put to a stop by a stoplight as they reached the tip of the long line of cars.
"If you insist, I'll be blunt. The department no longer believes in you and your talent."
Isaac looked forward and did not respond.
"In our eyes, you have given the university everything you can. We've squeezed every last resource we had into you to no avail."
In front, groups of people crossed the road as both stared intently at whatever was in front of them.
"This has been a long time coming Mr. Aikawa. Ever since your father offered to pay for your stay on campus, our doubts just grew larger and larger. Now we're just waiting for this meeting to end in disaster and for the next talent to step in and replace you."
The light turned green and the crowd in front disappeared. Professor Ozwell switched gears and proceeded to drive at a smooth pace. There was complete silence up to the campus entrance. Professor Ozwell stopped to let Isaac out.
"I feel that this was necessary. But I do hope I didn't sour the mood in any way. Your big day is coming up and I'd hate to see you back out just because of what I said."
Isaac with his canvas strapped to his back turned over to look at the professor through the window.
"Not at all Professor. In fact, after this talk, I'm more sure than ever." Isaac smiled and tapped the canvas behind his back.
The professor drove off, and Isaac gave him a wave as the car moved farther from the university. Isaac partook in the freebies the festival had to offer on his way to the department. The festival was livelier than it was on the first day. He came up the stairs and submitted his work to the secretary over the table. Isaac walked up the stairwell to visit Professor Kira but his office had been cleaned out except for a few pieces of paper with doodles of what seemed to be the professor himself bored of grading papers.
Isaac let out a chuckle. He sat in the professor's chair, remembering the many times the professor would gauge his skills live in front of an audience. As he went on amused, he felt weaker and weaker. He gripped his chest as the throbbing sensation came with immense pain. He laid his head down on the table, clenching his fist as he endured the pain. Yet, his face did not give the impression of suffering as he maintained a smile until he fainted.
The room was filled with an orange hue from the setting sun. Isaac drew deep breath after deep breath as he woke up in the chair, dripping with sweat. He checked his phone and saw a message coming from Rikki.
"Hey, you better get down here ASAP! I can barely handle Syd by herself but these girls are gunning for me." The text said with an accompanying picture of him with Mei and Sydney in the background.
Isaac could see Mei's smile as she laughed with Sydney from the reflection in the mirror. He let out a smile himself.
"Gotcha, don't die before I get there. ;P" Isaac texted back.